Group-think ...lessons from "the wave"

One of the things I believe to be very important and often undervalued is one's ability to influence others. As a consultant this is especially important because no matter how good of a solution you offer to a problem, the implementation WILL FAIL without the collective group buying into the ideas.

That being said, how does one person or a small group of people get an entire organization to do something they may not be too excited about?

I've been thinking about this some and I'm sure there are dozen's of books on the subject, but I've taken a different approach to gathering information that may or may not have broad implications.

So I've been going to a lot of Red Sox games this year...and there's a lot to think about when you're in a stadium for 3 hours without much else going on. Every game around the 6th inning something happens..."the wave". I started thinking about it and wondered, how does the wave start, who starts it, and how does a small group get an entire stadium to stop paying attention to the game and do "the wave."

In the last 5 or 6 games I've been paying closer attention and trying to figure this out and have made a few key observations:

1) The wave is usually started by a single person or a small group of VERY motivated individuals.

2) The wave is most effectively propagated when the game is slow.

3) The wave begins with a small group and spreads over time.

4) A successful wave with everyone working together is actually pretty fun.

I think that this is probably a general pattern that holds true for implementation of new ideas in a business too.

1) Ideas are implemented by a single person (CEO) or a small group of people (management team). If the management doesn't buy in, than the likelihood of success was nil from the beginning. This is why it is crucial to work with management in developing solutions so that they buy into the ideas from the beginning...making them feel that they were part of the solution is a great way to accomplish this.

2) New ideas will be more readily adopted if business (the game) is slow or if there is a problem with the status quo. If the perception is that things are going great and business is vibrant and exciting, there won't be any incentive to change. In the case of implementing a change it is therefore vital to make stakeholders realize that the status quo is unacceptable and that change is required.

3) The first attempt at the wave is never successful and requires multiple tries until it catches on...such is it with implementing new ideas as well. It is tough to move people from status quo to a new way of doing business. At first there will be a small group that is rapidly adapt a new way of life and there will be those that resit. An idea has to be continually pushed forward time and time again until a majority sees the light. Even then not everyone will comply, but if the overwhelming majority is moving in the right direction, it is hard to notice those who aren't complying and their decent no longer effects the end result.

4) Seeing an good idea take on a life of its own is a good thing...especially to those who developed the solution. At the game, it's always the one ultra-motivated (or drunk) guy that started the wave that gets the most satisfaction from seeing it move around all of Fenway!

Bridge and Insight Introductions 2010

So I have now attended both the McKinsey introduction to Insight and the intro to Bridge to BCG. Both programs were interesting. None of the information was too new, but I find the more people I talk to, the more confident I feel about how I fit into the cultures of each firm. It is for this reason that I would encourage you to go to these types of events even if you don't think you need to hear "another pitch." I won't elaborate too much on where I personally feel more comfortable because I don't want to influence anyone's thought process.

Briefly, I have always thought the McKinsey programs felt a little bit too structured and felt a little standoffish (it might actually be that their presentations are just more formal and very professional), but this last program was very welcoming. The folks giving the talks were all very personable. Most of the McKinsey events that I have been to in the past were run by men and this program was predominantly run by women, which may have accounted for the more welcoming feel. I don't know if that was a strategic/planned decision or not, but whatever the reason, I got a better feel at this talk than I have at ones in the past.

The introduction to BCG program was actually extremely impressive. I am always impressed by the view from their 32nd floor office (overlooking the Boston Harbor). The speaker was the newly appointed head of the healthcare practice for the Americas and was very enthusiastic about the work they do there. It is nice to see someone that is still so excited about consulting after 16 years. It seems like business at BCG is really great. Some of the other firms are delaying their new hires start date while BCG is actually trying to push it up and from talking to the folks last night, it seems like hiring will be up significantly this next season. There were plenty of consultants around to talk to after the presentation which was nice...they are all quite nice people and very easy to get along with...overall this event was enough to really get you excited about the upcoming recruiting season.

I will probably get back to working on my resume this weekend. I have really reworked the resume since last year just to make sure it has the impact I am looking for...but that's a topic for another day.

PhD Consultant Blog

As some of you may have seen in the comments from my last post, one of my readers is a PhD who is in the process of making the transition into consulting (sounds familiar). As far as I can tell, she has just accepted a position with one of the "Big 4" firms, but won't start work until September. She will be blogging about the transition from science to consulting and will be sharing some insight about what it is like to start out at her new job. She has also added a little perspective about her experience with applying to firms, which may be of interest to those of us still in the process.

While the blog is new and not fully developed yet, it looks like it could be a promising resource in the future and I would recommend checking in on it every now and then to see what kind of firsthand knowledge you might be able to pick up! Shee already has comments from Steve Shu, which is a pretty good seal of approval!

Here is the link:
http://phdconsultant.wordpress.com/

Bridge to BCG and McKinsey Insight 2010

So it looks like the consulting recruiting season is already starting to begin again. It seems like the last year has gone very quickly (which is both a good and bad thing)...all in all, I'm very excited to get back to this whole process. It might seem a little twisted, but I actually enjoy practicing cases and helping other people through the process!

I had some folks ask about the Bridge and Insight programs, deadlines, locations, etc...last week I didn't have all the info and promised I'd post it once I had it in hand. For those of you who aren't familiar with these programs, I have a post on them from last year that can catch you up on the details. Briefly, they are 3 day programs that the companies sponsor to give you a taste of what consulting is like. From what I hear, they are a great chance to learn and network.

So here's what you all wanted...the info:

Insight Healthcare (you can use the same link for Engineering and Science Insight)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
June 17 – 20, 2010
Application deadline: April 25, 2010
http://www.mckinsey.com/careers/apd/Opportunities.aspx


Bridge to BCG
Workshop deadline: Friday, May 7th
Workshop dates
* July 8-9 in BCG’s Boston office
* July 22-23 in BCG's Chicago Office
* July 22-23 in BCG's New York office
* July 29-30 in BCG’s San Francisco office
If you have any questions, please email them to Bridge2BCG@bcg.com

For application info, use the following link:
http://www.bcg.com/careers/adc.aspx

For the Bridge program, I think that they schedule you to attend the program at the office that is most local for you...this may be different this year, but last year there wasn't a lot of flexibility with this policy.

Where consulting is hot

So I have been collecting information from google analytics since I started this site and finally have over 23,000 hits. I think that this is a big enough sample size to start drawing a few conclusions.

Before I give you some data, it has to come with a caveat that traffic to my blog probably isn't the BEST indication of who is interested in consulting, although since you probably have to dig a little bit to find me, it might be a good indication of who is really serious about consulting and is searching hard for information.

First, the US is by far the biggest reader of my blog, which probably has to do with a few things....high levels of education and interest in consulting, my blog is written in the English language and is relevant to US recruiting. The next biggest reader is the UK with about 33% of US readership, then surprisingly Turkey is a close third, followed by India, Switzerland,France, Canada, Australia, Germany and Russia.

I will breakdown the interest within the US in a little more detailed fashion. I will use 1 as the nationwide average for hits...so a score of 5 would be five times the average hit rate for a state. Here's the data:

NY- 14.5
MA- 6.6
CA- 5.3
IL- 4.1
MI- 2.9
TX- 2.2
PA- 1.6
VA- 1.3
MD- 1.3
GA- 1.3

It all makes pretty good sense when you think about the target schools for consulting firms and where they are located...Columbia, NYU, Cornell, etc in NY; Harvard and MIT in MA, Stanford and some of the tech heavy colleges in CA; Northwestern and U of Chicago in IL; U of Mich and Ross in MI....I'm a little surprised that PA didn't score higher with all of the Wharton folks that end up with consulting gigs, but the data is the data.

Just thought I'd share a bit of that with you to let you know where your competition is coming from. Looks like the stiffest local competition is for those of us in NY and MA...lucky us!